The Boy and The Hunter
by Ruby Lanx
Summary: Old English assignment. The boys are on the ship back to civilization. How is Jack dealing with his behavior on the island?


**Hey guys. Like the summary said, this is an old english assignment that i decided to randomly put up. I got a decent grade on it, and several of my friends have said it's pretty good. So, here it is. **

**The Boy and the Hunter**

Jack gazed out over the great expanse of ocean. They'd been at sea several days now, and the stiff line of the horizon had not yet yielded land. The deep blue of the waves were transformed into a dazzling white and the ship plowed through the water. But for Jack, the waves were not just waves. They were the waves that carried Piggy away. The dark waters were the rain from the storm that dragged Simon's and the parachutist's body out to sea. These images haunted him day and night, every minute of this miserable voyage back to civilization. How could they not? How could he drive them out of his head? How could he forget the hunt? He had told himself over and over, time and time again that everything that had happened wasn't his fault. But, he knew better…

Jack suddenly realized that someone had been watching him; it jerked him out of his painful memories. He looked over to see that Ralph was leaning against the other side of the deck, arms crossed. His unblinking eyes were boring into Jack's own. That face could have been carved from rock; it was expressionless. And yet, that was what Jack could not stand. Why couldn't they yell at him, accuse him, tell him he was a murderer? Why did those eyes have to be so piercing, so emotionless, so unforgiving?

Turning away from the gaze of those eyes, Jack bolted like a hunted animal to the door that led below deck. However, no matter how hard he ran, he could still feel the guilt, the infernal shame, that followed him everywhere he went. He ran down to his room that he'd been given, and sat on his bed, sweating and gasping for air. The hunter had become the hunted, hunted by his own memories.

He lied back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Everyone seemed to blame him. Those deaths weren't his fault were they? No, they weren't…right?

The former choir leader felt a single tear slide from the corner of his eye down the side of his face. He wiped it away hurriedly. He'd had enough of salt water; he'd had enough of everything!

Jack stood angrily and marched out of the room. He saw a passing crewmember who tilted his hat to Jack. Was he trying to mock him? Was that man making fun of the fact that he used to be tribe leader but now most of the boys steered clear of him? Jack frowned and marched on.

The next person he came upon was Roger. Roger nodded to him and said "Hello, Chief. What do you plan on doing today?" That brought back painful memories of what Roger and Jack had done together.

"Don't call me that!" Jack yelled at him, fists curling at his sides.

Roger frowned. "Why not? What's wrong with you? You're the leader. I helped you, remember? I joined your tribe, got Sam 'n' Eric to join too. I helped you steal Ralph's fire."

"You tortured them! That's not a simple 'got', that's not anywhere near to what you did!"

"Hey, I got them to join didn't I? And what do you care? It used to be that you didn't. You used to love the power that violence brought you, the exhilaration of the other's fear of you. And I helped you achieve all that. I got that nuisance Piggy to shut up. Isn't that what you wanted? I know it was because you bragged about it, told Ralph that the same would happen to him, made him panic. I joined you in the dance, helped you in your precious hunts and painted my face like you. I sharpened the stick on both ends. I did. I did!"

"I know you did! I know you broke the conch! But…"

"We did so much, and we can do just as much again. We learned many things and we have power. Remember what we did; what we can do?"

Jack's fists shook. He didn't want to remember. "Just leave me alone why can't you! It's not my fault! It's not my fault! It's not! Why can't everyone just leave me alone?" He pushed past Roger and those who'd come to see what the ruckus was about.

He rushed to the very top of the ship. Some fresh air was what he needed. This deck was very small, much smaller than the one he'd been on earlier. His hands shook as he grabbed the railing. He closed his eyes. When that sow's head on the stick sharpened on both ends appeared, he instantly opened them again. How to be free of the memories that ate at him like the flies did on the beast's offering? He looked down to see Ralph looking up at him with those eyes, same as always, hard as stone. He looked away, up at the horizon. And this time, he thought he saw a bit of land on it.

The great boat reached the harbor within the next day. One of the littluns ran by Jack onto the quay and toward his father saying, "Daddy! We're free of the beast, Daddy!" Then, "Daddy, why do you have that big booboo?" The child was looking at a rippling scar that ran down the side of the man's face and disappeared under his clothing. It probably continued further down his body. As Jack looked around, he saw that many of the men suffered similar injuries: scars and missing limbs. And while many bore scars, all wore ashen faces and a wearied posture.

Of course, Piggy had said there was a war. That when they'd fallen out of the sky it was because they'd been attacked.

Jack suddenly realized what Simon had been screaming as he had been running down the mountain. The beast was inside him; inside everyone.

In shock from this revelation, Jack did not notice his mother running to him and only snapped out of it once his mother had him in her embrace. She was crying. Jack had not been hugged in a while…he decided to hug back.

Over his mom's shoulder he saw Ralph being approached by a Naval officer, and he remembered vaguely that Ralph's dad had been an officer in the Navy and wondered if this was the man. However, as the man spoke, and Ralphs face turned from searching and hopeful to the stone face, he realized that he would never meet Ralph's father. On Ralph's cheek, there was a single tear. Then there were two. The officer walked away from Ralph. He locked eyes with him for a second, and then, the stone face crumbled and Ralph's skinny frame shook with silent sobs. Jack buried his face in his mom's shirt, the smell seeming strange compared to the nauseating smell of refuse mixed with heavy perfumes from the forest. He didn't want to watch Ralph cry.

"Hey, Mum," he said, just realizing something. "Where's Dad?"

"Oh my darling," she responded. "He's not here anymore. But, it's going to be okay. Yes it is. You can come on home. I- I can make your favorite dinner. Doesn't that sound good?" Tears ran down the woman's cheeks but she was smiling. She had her son back. Everything would be all right. Jack wasn't sure if that was entirely true. He wasn't sure if he could just go back to how everything used to be after the island.

While driving back, Jack saw that many buildings had fallen. These buildings hadn't been rubble when he'd last seen them…

Their car finally reached his home and seeing it, Jack realized that he couldn't go back to being Jack Merridew. Too many things had happened to his home and to his life. To not be a hunter was to be filled with guilt for once being one.

On his way in the house, he grabbed a couple berries off of the bushes nearby and stuck them surreptitiously in his pocket. Then, while his mother prepared dinner in the kitchen, Jack stole away to the lavatory. He had work to do. When he had finished, he looked up from the mess of squashed blue and red berries that lay on the counter and stared into the exotic, frightening face of The Hunter.

And The Hunter smiled…

**Hope you liked it. Review and tell me if I deserved the 96 I got on it please!**


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